Troy boys nearly pull upset at Eureka Invitational

The boys of Trojan track and field continue to flex their muscles, as a few stellar athletes almost single-handedly stole the Eureka Invitational away from the home team. The Lions edged Troy 132-119.

A senior, Zack Dolezal, and a freshman, Sean Opland, combined to win six individual events and teamed up with juniors Luke Haggerty and Gabe Hickman to win the 4x100-meter relay by nine-tenths of a second over Eureka.

“Sean won three events outright and then tied for first in the high jump,” said Head Coach Neil Newton. “That’s pretty good work for a freshman. Zack did really good work in the discus and beat Richard Roo from Eureka.”

Dolezal and Roo have had a bit of a rivalry going the last few years, Newton said. Dolezal’s discus throw of 132-feet-2 beat out Roo by eight feet. 

Opland edged out Dolezal in the 100-meter, and the teammates finished first and second with only two-hundredths of a second between them. 

Troy’s Michael Miller was less than a half-second behind Dolezal in the 200-meters, as Troy completely dominated the sprints. The Trojans took 6 of the 10 places in the sprint races.

Middle- and long-distance races were a tougher go for Troy. Trinity Rice won the 3,200-meter by a healthy margin, and Haggerty barely took second in the 400-meter, but no other points were scored.

Hickman made quite a mark as well, taking second in the long jump and third in javelin and high jump.

“(Eureka) won it more on a numbers game,” Newton said. “They have around double the number of athletes we do.”

The girls had a harder time notching points, not helped by the high level of competition and the very low numbers they boast. 

Michaela Curry, a senior, took fifth in shot put and fourth in javelin, the latter of which was a 10-meter personal record, Newton said.

New athlete, Ashley Neeley, was trying out new events. It worked for the Lady Trojans, as she took second in the 400 and 100-hurdles.

Although the small meet of only four teams was a good way to bring home ribbons, Newton was concerned about the mindset of his team.

“Don’t get overconfident,” he warned. “We have Bigfork next Saturday, and we’ll probably see everybody in district there.”

The Bigfork Invitational is this Saturday, April 13.

Girls team totals: Eureka 116, Libby 96, Fernie, B.C. 58, Troy 17.

200- 2. India Croucher (L) 31.53, 4. Jessica Miller (L) 33.54.

400- 2. Ashley Neeley (T) 1:20.98

800- 2. Krysten Mossburg (L) 2:50.48, 4. Jenna Barrick, (L), 3:22.76.

100H- 2. Neeley (T) 19.97, 3. Cassie Ennenga (L) 20.5.

300H- 1. Barrick (L) 1:05.52

4X1- 3. Libby, 59.12

Shot- 3. Shailynn Massie (L) 27-5.5, 4. Michaela Curry (T) 24-2, 5. Ennenga (L) 22-10.25

Disc- 2. Massie (L) 86-11.75, 3. Hailey Craig (L) 74-11.75, 5. Jello Powell (T) 63-10.5

Jav- 1. Craig (L) 89-10, 2. Massie (L) 86-7, 3. Kaitlyn Gilder (L) 84-1, 4. Curry (T) 81-3, 5. Asia Jones (L) 74-4.

HJ- 1. Ennenga (L) 4-0.

LJ- 2. Mossburg (L) 14-5.75, 4. Croucher (L) 13-2.

TJ- 2. Barrick (L) 28-9.

PV- 3. Barrick (L) 7-0, Jones (L) 6-6.

Boys team totals: Eureka 132, Troy 119, Libby 61, Fernie, B.C., 33.

100- 1. Sean Opland (T) 11.53, 2. Zack Dolezal (T) 11.55, 5. Michael Miller (T) 12.08.

200- 1. Dolezal (T) 24.04, 2. Miller (T) 24.48, 5. Luke Haggerty (T) 25.72.

400- 2. Haggerty (T) 56.97, 4. Errik Westlund (L) 1:05.67, 5. Billy Topaz (L) 1:08.52.

800- 2. Dan Leggins (L) 2:22.09, 5. Jay Steele (L) 3:03.22.

Mile- 1. Leggins (L) 5:12.47, 4. Jonathan Miller (L) 5:31.0, 5. Cody Barrick (L) 5:44.03.

2Mile- 1. Trinity Rice (T) 12:05.39, 3. Barrick (L) 12:26.48, 4. Caleb Hooper (L) 14:52.85.

110H- Westlund (L) 17.42.

300H- 3. Alex Yeadon (T) 58.66.

4X1- 1. Troy 46.6, 3. Libby 49.75.

4X4- 2. Libby 4:10.35, 3. Troy 4:12.44.

Shot- 5. Dolezal (T) 36-10.5.

Disc- 1. Dolezal (T) 132-2.

Jav- 1. Opland (T) 130-9, 2. Christian Dewine (L) 105-9, 3. Gabe Hickman (T) 102-11, 4. Barrick (L) 99-0, 5. Jacob Rearick (L) 96-6.

HJ- T1. Opland (T) 5-10, 3. Hickman (T) 5-10.

LJ- 1. Opland (T) 19-1, 2. Hickman (T) 18-4.75, 3. Pate Scott (T) 18-2.75, 5. Gage Tallmadge (T) 17-6.

TJ- 2. Tallmadge (T) 36-6.25, 5. Westlund (L) 34-9.75.

PV- 2. Barak Lapka (L) 11-6.